Earlier this week it was revealed that the Philadelphia Phillies will be holding tryouts for pitchers in Japan, following their recently increased international presence in the baseball hotbed that Japan has become known to be. According to Sanspo, the Phillies are holding a pitcher-only tryout in Japan, which will entail a video screening and practical examination.
Since 2021, the Phillies have made a point to expand their international scouting presence after being criticized for lagging behind other big-market clubs.
In January of 2025, the Phillies made what felt like a first major breakthrough in the international free agent market when they signed Japanese right-hander Koyo Aoyagi to a minor league contract and invited him to Clearwater for spring training.
Aoyagi was assigned initially to Double-A Reading before floating between the Reading Fightin Phils and the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Aoyagi made six starts and had 23 appearances total between the two clubs, where he struggled with just a 1-3 record, a 7.22 ERA, and 28 strikeouts across 33 2/3 innings. The Phillies released Aoyagi in July.
Phillies look to expand globally despite results of Koyo Aoyagi signing
Landing the nine-year veteran in Aoyagi, though not a success, marked the beginning of the revamped international scouting process that the Phillies have started reshaping, spearheaded by the team's assistant general manager Jorge Velandia. He and Derrick Chung, the Phillies' international scouting director, have been vital in the team's desperate need to expand their scouting efforts globally.
With a full-time scout, Tora Otsuka, based in Japan, the Phillies are looking to tap into Japan's pitching talent in hopes of finding a Yu Darvish or Yoshinobu Yamamoto of their own. After another year of losing in the National League Division Series, it's clear that the team desperately needs to shake things up. Perhaps developing and investing in international talent, which this team has not done while trying to invest in its core, could be one way to begin to make that change.
In addition to their Invincible-like search for Japanese pitchers, the Phillies have also been continuously linked to Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami, who is expected to be posted for MLB teams this winter.
A 25-year-old corner infielder from the Central League in Nippon Professional Baseball, Murakami has hit a career .270/.394/.577 slash line, and has been known around the baseball world since 2022, when he mashed 56 home runs in one season. According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Murakami has played about 75 percent of his time at third base, with the other 25 percent spent at first, which could provide the Phillies with several options around the horn as they look to regroup for 2026.